Chapter 241: The Starry Sky That Burst Into View!
The 10:00 AM sun was even more intense. The temperature had already hit 33°C, and the "feels like" temperature was even higher. Distorted heat waves shimmered off the commercial street's pavement. The leaves on the trees hung limply, and the scream of the cicadas pierced the muggy air like a sharp metal wire.
"Whoa—! It's opening! It's opening!"
"Yay!"
"Boss Ryohei is out!"
Seeing Ryohei Tanaka push open the glass door, holding a small blackboard, the crowd waiting in the small plaza erupted in a commotion. Those who had hired line-sitters were fine, but the ones who had been waiting themselves since early morning were truly excited. Many stood on their toes, craning their necks or squinting, trying to see what was written.
Ryohei Tanaka put down the blackboard and glanced at the line, noticing quite a few familiar faces. For example, the person first in line was a girl with blonde pigtails, holding a phone stabilizer with a phone mounted on it, currently live streaming. It was one of the restaurant's regulars—Miss Airi!
"Thank you all for coming—"
As the store owner, Ryohei naturally had to say a few words. He took a megaphone from Lucoa, held it to his mouth, and looked at the line. "Today, all items in the store are 20% off. There is a limit of six items per person!"
"Due to the store's limited space, we can only accommodate 20 people at a time. Thank you for your cooperation!"
...
Airi had managed to become a minor internet celebrity by riding Ryohei Tanaka's wave, so she certainly wouldn't miss his dessert shop opening. She had hired a line-sitter last night, but she was so worried the person would get greedy and sell her spot for a higher price that she had rushed over herself after breakfast. After applying sunscreen and grabbing ice water, she had taken over the spot and stood in the sun for two or three hours.
She was currently dying of heat, her clothes were sticking to her uncomfortably, and she was in a bad mood. Airi suspected she'd get heatstroke if she had to stand there any longer, but thankfully, the wait was finally over.
"Please, come in, Airi-chan," Ryohei Tanaka said, stepping aside and gesturing. "Shopping baskets are on your left."
"Okay." Airi returned a sweet smile. With a flick of her golden pigtails, she stepped forward on her slender, white-garter-stocking-clad legs and headed into the shop.
"Minna-san, next, Airi will take you to see the Culinary Sage's dessert shop! Let's see how many kinds of desserts there are and which ones are stunning!" Airi said excitedly to her stream before pushing open the glass door.
A blast of cool, refreshing air and an incredibly rich aroma of cake washed over her. She let out an involuntary "Mmm," sinking her head into her shoulders with a look of pure bliss.
"So cool! And it smells so good—!"
Her voice was sweet and soft, prompting viewers in the chat to call her "cute." Those who were there for the food, however, spammed: "Switch the camera! I want to see the desserts!"
Airi ignored her chat for the moment. She quickly moved away from the doorway. Amidst Pekola's "Welcome!", she grabbed a blue shopping basket and smiled at the angel. "Pekola, I'll just look around myself first."
"Okay," Pekola smiled and nodded.
Airi looped the basket onto her arm and looked back at the screen, smiling sweetly. "Minna-san, let's look together!"
She switched her camera, panning around to show the viewers the first floor. "Honestly, Minna-san, Airi feels like a fantasy has just become reality," she said, her voice filled with excitement.
"All the desserts are like treasures, shining with a captivating light, lined up neatly in the display cases... This is the dessert house I dreamed of as a child!"
The glass counters looked like exquisite treasure chests.
Croissants leaned lazily in a wicker basket, their golden-brown crust a cascade of layers, hinting at the honeycomb structure within. A few black sesame seeds were sprinkled on top, and the fresh-out-of-the-oven butter aroma wafted through the glass.
Lemon tarts were like condensed pieces of summer art. A golden-yellow shell held a curd-like filling, topped with a light swirl of meringue. A slice of candied lemon rested on the side, its translucent coating glowing like amber in the light.
Blueberry cream lava cakes sat quietly, their golden exteriors hiding a secret. The slightly raised, cracked surface looked like the fissure of a volcano, hinting at the blueberry-cream magma flowing within, ready to gush out.
Macarons were lined up on a porcelain plate like scattered rainbow fragments. Pink as first cherry blossoms, green as new moss, purple as twilight. Their smooth shells had a glaze-like sheen, and the full fillings bulged slightly, as if about to burst free.
Donuts hung on a gilded display rack like jewels. Some glittered with powdered sugar like diamond dust, some were adorned with colorful sprinkles, others were draped in silky chocolate ribbons, and some wore a crisp caramel shell.
...
There were so, so many...
All kinds of desserts glittered in the display cases and freezers, mingling with the warm-toned lights from the ceiling, creating a dreamlike space.
In the live stream, the chat was scrolling frantically.
"So beautiful!"
"This is my dream dessert house too!"
"(¯﹃¯)!"
"Whoa! They're all glowing! Does that mean... the Culinary Sage made all of them himself?"
"People in Tokyo are so lucky! Hokkaido is officially envious!"
"Osaka is officially envious!"
"Culinary Sage (x) Dessert Sage (√)!"
"They all look so delicious! I want to try them!"
"The prices are so high!"
"Help! I'm about to lick my screen!"
...
Airi started from the entrance, taking close-ups of every single dessert. Smelling the rich, sweet air and seeing the works of art in front of her, she couldn't stop her mouth from watering.
She glanced at her screen and feigned distress for her audience. "Oh no! My indecisiveness is kicking in! Every single one looks delicious, I don't know which to choose. Does anyone have any suggestions?"
As she spoke, she turned and walked toward the stairs, intending to show her viewers the desserts on the second floor.
'Come to think of it,' Airi thought as she walked up the clean marble stairs, 'this dessert shop opening isn't as shocking as the restaurant's opening, or his booth at the food festival.'
She wasn't exactly disappointed, it just hadn't surpassed her expectations. Ryohei Tanaka had just given her too many of those surprises in the past.
It was at that exact moment that Airi reached the second floor. She turned her head, and a brilliant, vast starry sky burst into her vision.
Nebulae, like veils of light gauze, drifted and danced in the air. The entire second-floor space seemed to have been enchanted, transformed into a corner of the vast universe!
Airi froze completely. She stood stunned for two seconds, then her blue eyes went wide, and her cherry-red mouth formed a perfect "O."
Her fingers, which had been gripping the phone stabilizer, went slack, nearly dropping the device. The camera trembled with her shock, faithfully transmitting the dreamlike, starry sky to her live stream audience...
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